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Saturday, 24 March 2018

Land
ownership in Ghana connotes the legal rights one has over, in and to land. Land
ownership means that a person is recognized by other relevant autonomous actors
with no conflict of interest in the land as the legitimate and legal owner of
that plot of land.

Therefore, every land in Ghana is under the
jurisdiction or care of someone. The forms of Land ownership in Ghana are state, vested,
stool, family and private or individual.

Public/ State Lands

These
are lands which belong to all the citizens of a country but are however
controlled by the government for the interest of the general public. With
respect to the 1992 constitution, article 257, the meaning of public lands is
given as:

“… Public Lands”
includes any land which, immediately before the coming into force of this
constitution, was vested in the Government of Ghana on behalf of, and in trust
for, the people of Ghana for the public service of Ghana, and any other land
acquired in the public interest, for the purposes of the government of Ghana …”

The
above quote has given meaning to what public lands are, and their uses. With
reference to the above, public lands has therefore been categorized to have two
components, that is, State Lands and Vested Lands. The estimated proportion of
public lands in Ghana is 18% - 20% of the entire lands in Ghana.

State Lands are therefore lands acquired by the state
compulsorily for public purposes and for public interest. Government may
acquire private lands for several purposes, and among these purposes is the one
which has been briefly established in article 20 (1) (a) of the 1992
constitution. Such purposes of acquisition include “… in the interest of
defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, town and
country planning or the development or utilization of property…”. The principal
statutes used in acquiring state lands is the State Lands Act, 1962 (Act 125)
with amendment. Nonetheless there are some peculiar instances where lands
affected by Administration of Lands Act, 1962, Act 123 (customary lands) are
compulsorily taken by the state when necessary as per the State Lands Act,
1962. Upon the compulsory acquisition of lands by the state, all interests held
in the said lands are extinguished and the legal title or interest is then
vested in the president without any encumbrances.

With vested lands, the ownership of the said land is
split into two: the legal title or interest and the equitable title or
interest. Vested lands are therefore those lands whose legal interests are held
by the trustee (the state) in trust for the beneficiaries (customary land
owners) who hold the equitable interest. The main statute used by the
government in vesting in itself private lands is the Administration of Lands
Act, 1962 (Act 123) which vests private lands in the President on behalf of the
people.

Private Lands

Private lands are those lands which are owned or
occupied by private individuals. In other words, private lands are those lands
whose ownership is vested in the private legal person. These private holders
include stools and skins for the subjects; clans, families, corporate bodies
and single individuals. Private lands are estimated to cover a range of about
78% - 80% of the entire lands in Ghana. Although private individuals are
responsible for the management of these customary lands, as per section 267(3)
of the 1992 constitution, the Lands Commission which is a state land agency,
has been given supervisory and concurrency role in any conveyance or
disposition or development of any customary land in Ghana. This has therefore limited the complete control of
ownership of land in the country.

Stool or Skin Land

This may be described
as lands that belong to a community as a whole, with the stool or skin of that
community as the traditional symbol of the souls of the ancestors who
originally owned the stool or skins and therefore the land. These lands were
acquired through conquests, gifts and discovery. Stool or Skin lands are
administered according to the principles of customary or native laws. The
allodial or absolute interest is held by the chief who administers all the
lands in trust and on behalf of his people. Thus, he uses such rights to
distribute land to members of the community and strangers.

Family Lands

This is land that
belongs to a particular family. The absolute interest is operated by the head
of the family who uses the usufructuary obligations to distribute land to
members of the family as well as strangers. As a rule in customary land law,
the head of the family alone cannot alienate land unless with the consent of
other members of the family.Click here for scholarships

How far has Land Registration in Ghana gone? Is it even important to register land in Ghana. Do people register their lands?

Land value in Ghana is very expensive. Do you want to throw your 20,000 cedis away just like that? Do you want your properties to be owned by someone else other than the ones you wish when you are gone? No, register your land!

It is important to register your land if you own a land. To prevent all form of encumbrances, adverse possession, litigation etc, it is so necessary to register your land.

Many people do not register their land simply because they see no reason why they should do so because they have built on it and have stayed in it without any problems. Others do not register their land because they think land registration is expensive, cumbersome, time wasting, bureaucratic and the ultimate being lack of knowledge in the process involved in land registration. This is why Gh-Matters has laid down the processes one may go through when registering a State or Stool lands.

Acquisition
and registration of state lands

The
acquisition of state lands, lease preparation as well as title preparation
involves a number of processes. The Lands Commission is responsible for the
management and registration of state lands in Ghana. In acquiring and
registering state lands, one needs to go through the following process:

Apply to the Lands
Commission that you have seen a particular plot of land which you want to acquire. If the application relates to a particular parcel of land, the
applicant must state the plot number and the location of the plot. If you don't know any vacant plot, you may request one from the commission.

The
applicant would be invited to complete application form (Form 5) and a
questionnaire with two (2) passport size pictures.

If
the application is successful, the applicant will then pay the appropriate fees
and charges.

The
documents are then prepared by Lands Commission and the applicant is invited to
execute the documents.

The
documents are also then executed by the Chairman of Lands Commission.

The
applicant pays ground rent and registration fees.

Documents
are then released for stamping at Land Valuation Division.

The
applicant is to obtain Tax Clearance Certificate at Internal Revenue Service.

The
document is then plotted and registered and the original copy is released to
the applicant.

Acquisition
and registration of stool lands

Stool
lands are allocated by chiefs and the leases are registered by the
Lands Commission.

In Kumasi, the Asantehene’s Land Secretariat (ALS) is
responsible for the execution of stool lands but the registration and
concurrence is granted by the Lands Commission. This is the procedure one has
to go through in the acquisition and registration of stool lands:

The
individual identifies land and approaches the caretaker chief for allocation
note.

The
applicant presents an allocation note to the Asantehene’s Lands Secretariat
(ALS) together with a cadastral site plan and passport size photograph.

Asantehene’s
Lands Secretariat makes enquiries at the Lands Commission to confirm whether
the plot is free for allocation.

If
the plot is free, the applicant pays the necessary fees (drink money) and
Asantehene’s Lands Secretariat seeks Asantehene's endorsement on the allocation
note.

The
Asantehene’s Lands Secretariat engrosses lease for execution by lessee, lessor
and Asantehene.

The
Asantehene’s Lands Secretariat sends the executed document to the Lands
Commission and applicant follows up on the registration at the Lands
Commission.

The
applicant pays the appropriate lease preparation fees.

The
document is then registered and the original copy is released to the applicant.